JON MERRILL - Defenseman - 27 - $1.37MM Cap Hit - UFA in 2020-2021
LAST UPDATED 8/28/19
When Vegas selected Merrill in the expansion draft, they likely expected him to step in and be a consistent top-6 contributor for the team. While he's been largely fine when he's been on the ice, the issue for him has been actually getting on the ice. Merrill's career-long fight to stay healthy has still remained a struggle, and he's yet to play 100 games as a Golden Knight. So that's the biggest impediment to him having value at this point in his career. Merrill has decent size and skating ability, and can bring some value on both ends of the ice. Offensively, his skating and vision allows him to be a puck mover, and that in turn is what gives him his offensive value. He won't rack up points, but 20+ points should be the expectation in a healthy season, and he's far from a liability with the puck on his stick. Defensively, Merrill's skating allows him to facilitate zone exits and close the distance to a loose puck quickly. That being said, Merrill can take some bad penalties and make some poor choices that hurt his team. He has plenty of value thanks to his physical play, but the defensive mistakes he makes dig into that value. Overall, he's a physical, smooth-skating fifth defenseman who can reasonably be expected to fill in on a bottom pairing with another #5. Durability is his biggest hurdle going forward.
When Vegas selected Merrill in the expansion draft, they likely expected him to step in and be a consistent top-6 contributor for the team. While he's been largely fine when he's been on the ice, the issue for him has been actually getting on the ice. Merrill's career-long fight to stay healthy has still remained a struggle, and he's yet to play 100 games as a Golden Knight. So that's the biggest impediment to him having value at this point in his career. Merrill has decent size and skating ability, and can bring some value on both ends of the ice. Offensively, his skating and vision allows him to be a puck mover, and that in turn is what gives him his offensive value. He won't rack up points, but 20+ points should be the expectation in a healthy season, and he's far from a liability with the puck on his stick. Defensively, Merrill's skating allows him to facilitate zone exits and close the distance to a loose puck quickly. That being said, Merrill can take some bad penalties and make some poor choices that hurt his team. He has plenty of value thanks to his physical play, but the defensive mistakes he makes dig into that value. Overall, he's a physical, smooth-skating fifth defenseman who can reasonably be expected to fill in on a bottom pairing with another #5. Durability is his biggest hurdle going forward.
Services |
Company |
|